I'm currently working on a popular science book. I'm already pretty intimidated by the process of preparing a proposal - I don't know much about the publishing industry and I have basically no platform to speak of at this point. But what's currently worrying me the most is that I just found another book that is quite similar to the one I'd like to write. It covers a lot of the same material, but not really in the same way; it's a bit drier and less narrative than what I had in mind. It was published in 2005 by a major publishing house, but it appears to only be available in eBook form at the moment. It was reviewed by several papers, so it was definitely on people's radar at the time, but I have no idea how well it did.

I've got some questions for what this might mean for me going forward. Specifically:

-Is there a resource I can use to determine how successful this book was?

-Should I hope that it was successful (thus proving that there is a market for my book) or that it bombed (if nobody read it, there's still room out there for mine)?

-How similar is too similar? Does this kill my proposal in the water? I feel like this subject could be really interesting if treated right, and i don't think this author really did that. But I feel like I'd be presenting the same facts, just in a hopefully more interesting and digestible format.

I can give more specifics if anybody is really interested in helping me pick this apart. :-)

Publishing Experience:Journalist covering U.S. nonprofits, foundations, and life in general. President and Chief Elephant Officer of Elephant's Bookshelf Press, LLC. Since establishing the company in 2012, we have published more than a dozen books, including several short story anthologies and debut novels by several AQC authors including "ScubaSteve" Carman and R.S. Mellette. Midway through 2018, we've already published our first nonfiction title, "Which the Days Never Know," and are putting together an omnibus collection of the Seasons Series of anthologies, with launch expected by the Christmas season. And in 2019, there will be much more, with news to come soon!

Posted 12 February 2016 - 02:04 PM

Actually, that's helpful to you. At a certain level, the fact that another book on the subject exists means there's an audience for it. I'm sure there are websites that can give you an idea of the sales of a specific book, but I'm not remembering the URLs at the moment (sorry).

In your query and proposal, you'd want to note the differences between your proposed manuscript and the previously published books.

"While Whosiwhatis's book thoroughly investigates the effects of gamma radiation on gametes and grametes, my manuscript delves into the related effects of such radiation on flammadoodles and pajamadoodles."

Moreover, depending on how old the earlier book is, yours might be able to demonstrate how the field has moved since the previous work. An update, if you will. And, if your book is more accessible to a larger audience, it might be just what a publisher would like to see.

Publishing Experience:Journalist covering U.S. nonprofits, foundations, and life in general. President and Chief Elephant Officer of Elephant's Bookshelf Press, LLC. Since establishing the company in 2012, we have published more than a dozen books, including several short story anthologies and debut novels by several AQC authors including "ScubaSteve" Carman and R.S. Mellette. Midway through 2018, we've already published our first nonfiction title, "Which the Days Never Know," and are putting together an omnibus collection of the Seasons Series of anthologies, with launch expected by the Christmas season. And in 2019, there will be much more, with news to come soon!

Posted 12 February 2016 - 02:08 PM

Your questions are actually a great example of why nonfiction publishers don't want to see a finished manuscript; they're looking for a proposal, which they can evaluate and say, "This stuff in the beginning is good, but chapters 4-7 are not necessary because it's well-covered space."

Thanks, this is helpful and encouraging. I guess the key is to think carefully about that section of the proposal as I write and outline my book, and make sure there are clear differences or updates that I can point out.

Publishing Experience:Journalist covering U.S. nonprofits, foundations, and life in general. President and Chief Elephant Officer of Elephant's Bookshelf Press, LLC. Since establishing the company in 2012, we have published more than a dozen books, including several short story anthologies and debut novels by several AQC authors including "ScubaSteve" Carman and R.S. Mellette. Midway through 2018, we've already published our first nonfiction title, "Which the Days Never Know," and are putting together an omnibus collection of the Seasons Series of anthologies, with launch expected by the Christmas season. And in 2019, there will be much more, with news to come soon!